Pentagon “Demo_01” Review

Fairly new, ten-member kpop group, Pentagon won both New Star Award and New Korean Wave Rookie Award with their latest EP Demo_01.

The group first debuted in Oct. 10 2016 with Pentagon. The EP had seven tracks including the single, “Gorilla”. Then came, Five Senses featuring “Can You Feel It” in Dec. 2016. In March 2017, Pentagon released their first Japanese EP, Gorilla. It contained six tracks including Japanese versions of “Gorilla”, “Can You Feel It”, “Pretty Pretty”, “You Are”, and two new Japanese tracks. The single “Beautiful” was dropped May 18, and a third EP, Ceremony, was released June 12.

Sept. 6, Pentagon came out with Demo_01 that is composed of five songs: “Like This”, “It’s Over”, “One More Night”, “Get That Drink”, and “When I Was In Love”. “Like This” and “When I Was In Love” are the only two to have music videos at the moment.

“Like This” starts off the EP’s EDM style with a catchy chorus. The song does a good job incorporating the rap line and vocal line without making the transitions stand out. The music video takes place in rundown sets of parking lots and warehouses, and the focus is on the members and the intricate group dance more than on a plot line. The light effects in the video also stand out and add to the overall feel to the song and music video.

Both “It’s Over” and “One More Night” carry the EDM style but with a slower, more somber tone. “One More Night” has a clock-like beat that carries throughout the song but is more prominent in the intro and bridge of the song. While the two songs are similar in sense of tone, they contrast and contradict each other when it comes to meaning. “It’s Over” is about the members telling a significant other that the relationship isn’t working anymore and it’s time to move on. On the other hand, “One More Night” features the group trying to convince the other person in a relationship that everything will work out and to just keep trying in the relationship.

“Get That Drink” takes a break from heavy-hearted topics of the previous two songs and drifts a little from the EDM style of the other songs. This song only includes the rap line: E’Dawn, Yuto, and Wooseok. The song focuses more on the rap itself; therefore, the EDM takes a back-burner so the lyrics and bass can stand out. The theme changes from “relationship problems” to a “we’re the best” vibe.

The other song with a music video is “When I Was In Love” which brings back the slow, EDM style but with a piano mixed into the melody. The music video is left up to fan interpretations as the ending is a little unclear. Not featuring any of the members, the music video follows a woman using “make-a-wish” matches. Her life goes right while she uses them until the run out. The video shows her face fall and a screen of bright white appears until doors slowly close shut.